W. Atlee Burpee & Co., the nation's largest seed company, has sold twice as many seeds this year as it did last year. And half the increase is in sales to new customers, company President George Ball estimates.

"When we saw the gas prices go up, we said, 'Oh boy,' " Ball said.

Interest in growing fruits and vegetables picks up during economic downturns, people in the gardening industry say.

A dime spent on seeds yields about $1 worth of produce, according to an industry standard.

Bad economic times also can mean more time to garden -- people who cancel their summer vacations are around to water their tomatoes.

The housing crunch works in favor of vegetable gardens as well: If you can't sell your home, you can replant it.

Brenda Houseman, an employee at Flowerland, 765 28th St. SW in Wyoming, said she hopes to save at least $200 on groceries over the summer by cultivating a backyard garden of fruits and veggies from cantaloupe to jalapenos.

"I grow tons of different kinds of vegetables. It's worth it with gas prices and all that," she said.

That kind of thinking is leading to a big year for companies that sell to fruit and vegetable gardeners.

Seed Savers Exchange, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving heirloom vegetables, ran out of potatoes this year and mailed 10,000 tomato and pepper transplants to customers in early May, double its usual amount.

The organization, based near Decorah, Iowa, sold 34,000 packets of seed in the first third of this year, more than it did all last year.

"I do see people picking up more packaged seeds and starting from scratch," Drozd said.

Autumn Horrocks, co-owner of Horrocks Market, said the store increased its volume and variety of vegetables.

She has seen more people interested in gourmet veggies such as yellow-pear tomatoes and container plants. Growing your own wins in cooking too, she said.

"If you know what you're doing -- and you don't even have to know much -- you're going to end up with a superior product more than in the grocery store," Horrocks said.

Onions, shallots and leeks have been especially strong sellers this season.

Wholesale sales rose one-quarter this year at Dixondale Farms, a family-owned farm in Carrizo Springs, Texas, that ships onion and leek transplants to customers and sells wholesale to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Lowe's Cos. and Home Depot Inc., company President Bruce Fraiser said.

But Fraiser repeats the old farming joke that the way to make a small fortune farming is to start off with a large one.